Power Wheeling Debate Resurging as NRE Bill Approaches Final Stages

Indonesia's House of Representatives (DPR) aims to swiftly conclude discussions and enact the New and Renewable Energy Bill (RUU EBET). As the approval draws nearer, debates surrounding the power-wheeling scheme resurface. Under this scheme, private power plant operators utilize a transmission network owned by PT PLN (Persero). Deendarlianto, an energy researcher from Gadjah Mada University, stated that the provision for power wheeling in the RUU EBET would increase consumer electricity tariffs. "The implementation of power wheeling could have adverse effects on the nation's economy," he said on Apr. 2.

According to Deendarlianto, numerous academic studies have highlighted the risks of tariff hikes due to power wheeling. He argues that power wheeling merely represents a form of electricity transmission liberalization inconsistent with the Constitution. "We must ensure that the RUU EBET facilitates national interests rather than foreign interests," he added. Meanwhile, Mardani Surya Hutama, a Renewable Energy Practitioner, emphasized that power wheeling needs to be accompanied by transparent and fair business-to-business schemes between electricity producers and PLN as the transmission network owner.